


Anomaly in The System

by JoJo419



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Handplates (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Outercodes, Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Angst(Maybe), Anomaly and Ink are gonna butt heads, Author Loves Comments, But they will show up, Character Commentary, Fluff, Found Family, I hope, Is Happily Ever After, It’s gonna be FUNNY, Might Get Weird, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Frisk, Original Characters saying “Screw Canon”, Other, Outercode Skeletons and Nightmare’s Gang will show up LATER, Please be nice first Undertale fanfic, Polyamorous Character, Reverse Harem, The Author Regrets Nothing, This fic is gonna be a TRIP, Will be multiple AU’s, Will update tags, again it’ll make sense, because the mission, determined main characters, fighting for a happy ending, good original characters, hacking the world, it’ll make sense i promise, nonbinary chara, of good times and DETERMINATION, shenanigans promised
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23182894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoJo419/pseuds/JoJo419
Summary: What had started as a game night between four friends soon became a adventure of a lifetime. Sucked into the game known as Undertale, this group of found family decides to stick around to try for a peaceful ending.Through different dimensions, Marie, Blake, Angela, and Data help the two fallen children Frisk and Chara on the mission of getting everyone a happily ever after. Shenanigans, fluff, and angst will ensure, but the end goal will always be the same: Break the Barrier and free the Underground.(This fanfic will include the Universes of: Underfell, Underswap, Swapfell, Horrortale, and Handplates. If you do check this out, please comment. Comments fuel me to continue, and I’d love the support.)
Relationships: More to be added - Relationship, Original Female Character/Original Non-Binary Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character, Sans(Underfell)/Original Female Character/Papyrus(Underfell)/Sans(Swapfell)/Papyrus(Swapfell)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 27





	1. Game Night

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks for looking at my first Undertale fic! I’m gonna be honest, I’m writing this because the idea has been bouncing around for me for a while, and I do hope others enjoy it - it’s mainly for my own enjoyment. Still, I appreciate all comments and sincerely hope you enjoy what you see so far!

Evening. The time of the day where the world seems to choose a side, either it settles down into an easy slumber or decides to mimic a bucking bull who has the sole mission of massacring the witless rider. Tonight, however, was not about to mess with Marie ‘The Anomaly’ Wick’s night. It didn’t matter how many idiot customers were gonna claim they absolutely could handle adopting a crocodile - spoiler alert; Bruce HATES hands in his face! - and she ends up having to explain the exotic animals are rescues only. 

Still, bouncing between helping one Mrs. Elderwood run an exotic animal rescue or the other Mrs. Elderwood fix up badass rides to sell was pretty enjoyable. The couple was great, and honestly treated her like family. When it came to the actual jobs, they paid well. Which helped her and her roommates since the support of decent pay was great for the apartment the four of these friends live in. 

The walk home had been nice to let her thoughts drift, but stepping up to the door meant actually needing to dig the key out and get in. Digging around the bag at her hip, a literal bag like from an RPG, Marie barely notices the figure stepping up from behind. A tap on the shoulder has her spinning with a hiss.

“Pffht, chill weirdo. I already got my key out.” Angela Pates brushes past the now chuckling Marie, shaking her head. After unlocking the door, both head in and drop what they’re carrying at the door, rushing to the main living room. “Ok, ok. Data said they already got the new system working! This is gonna be sweet! You wanna be the driver for tonight, Anomaly?”

Marie nods, already dropping to the floor in front of the TV. Numerous cords are hanging down, all labeled by color and a sheet on the wall which listed which color meant what.  
“Oh, totally! I found out about this game first, and I’m driving tonight. You, Data, and Blake can backseat. I’m claiming Data as my second in command though, and trust me don’t fight this. I did some research...they gotta be second.”

Marie outright cackles when Angela drops onto the long couch with a huff, tossing chrome hair over a shoulder. Angela worked at a hair salon, but insisted she was going to become a great fashion designer one day. With how well her cosplays are, nobody doubted her for a minute.   
“Roger that, captain! Now hook it up and let’s get ready to —“

“R U M B L E!!” The front door slams over as two new figures stumble in over each other, one taller than the other. The noticeably shorter one falls flat on the floor, while the taller tumble over the couch and into Angela’s lap. Short one runs to a room off to the side.

“Wassup, girl?” The tallest - Data Hansen - laughs when Angela shoves them off. It’s playful, though, and they soon move to join Marie in hooking up the gaming system, “Could’ve sworn I heard I was stealing second base tonight. This true, my captain?” They wink at Marie, who nods absentmindedly. 

“Yeah, fam. Only reason why I’m running this ship for now is Finder’s Fee. You’re second if a boss tries me and actually puts up a fight. Blake and Angela, you’re both on deck.” Rolls announced, the three friends get everything set up before settling down in different areas. Marie on the floor, closest to the screen. Angela off to the right of the TV, preparing herself to judge any and all character outfits plus tease any jerk characters with utter Mean Girls MaliceTM. Data…they had assumed the position of upside down in the middle of the couch, frantically scrolling their phone for good background music to blare. 

“Ok, ok I’m back! My shirt got WRECKED by work!” Finally, Blake Castee joins the group, taking the position opposite of Angela. He tries to do a sassy hair flip, but considering he likes to shave his hair off it wasn’t as dramatic as the others.   
“So, Marie, fill us dear co hosts in on our choice this fine evening?” He drops his voice into a dramatic tone, and Marie shakes her head at his antics while the others laugh. 

“Ok, ok. It’s some new game called Undertale. The whole Internet is obsessed with it right now, and I avoided as many spoilers as I could, but from what I gathered here’s the news. Monsters and humans had a war, typical humans win, monsters get locked underground -“ 

“Boo!” 

“Oh, how TRAGIC!” 

“How cliché...I would’ve put them in space or something.”

“I know y'all. Ok, anyways, our character named Frisk, _they_ stumble down into the Underground. Now it’s up to us to lead them out!” Marie doesn’t miss how Data’s eyes light up when they hear the stress on the pronouns. She knew that would make Data happy. 

“And here’s the best part - we don’t have to hurt anyone!” She gushes, grinning as the others laugh at the enthusiasm. While anyone in the group knew how to hold their own, nobody liked being the mean person in a game. Not when there’s the option of everyone getting a Happily Ever After. It was the Mission of the group; use all means at hand to get HEA. No matter what. 

“Ok, ok. Enough talking, let’s get this ride going!” Angela cheers on, and her other backseat gamers cheer too as the game starts up. All four are quiet when the story slideshow shows up, with a small grumble from Angela about putting them in space. Once the name screen shows up, Marie types in Frisk - she avoided as many spoilers as she could, but you can’t avoid everything on the Internet!

It’s when a warning pops up that makes them all pause. 

“Please plug in a microphone…? What?” Blake reads, before Data leaps up and runs to their room.

“I got an awesome one for Christmas! It’ll pick up everything we say perfectly!” They run back in and, after some quick reworking, everything is set. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The game starts off slow, mostly Marie getting used to the controls before realizing it was just like any other game. The group was pretty silent, up until she headed into the next section. 

“Ok, no. That flower is giving me bad vibes.” Angela says, shaking her head, “Do we have to talk to it? Oh, crap, it’s probably a trap. Sprint, Anom, sprint!” The group laughs and, to a pleasant surprise, find that they can indeed pass by the flower. 

Until it just pops up in front of them again. 

“Run!!” Angela is cackling now, and has begun to lead Blake and Data in chanting for Marie to book it. It takes a few minutes to dodge the plant, but eventually they find a stone building on the screen. 

“Oh, man. Yeah that was such a trap there.” Data says, flopping down onto their side, now managing to lay down in both Blake’s and Angela’s laps. Both make sounds of agreement, before Marie speaks up. 

“Actually, I really don’t think we were supposed to avoid him...what’s the point of a tutorial if you can just move past it…” She trails off, and the room is silent for a bit. It was a bit strange gamer wise…

“Um, hello? Can you hear me?” The fifth voice has Data shooting off the couch and the others looking around. It’s pretty obvious off the bat that the group was the only ones home. “U-Uh, over here! The screen!”

Like a bad horror movie, they all look towards the TV...to see Frisk staring at them. Marie had left Frisk staring at the house before. 

“...Hello. This is different.” Blake speaks up first, the others following with either a greeting or a hand wave. Frisk waves back. 

“Hi! I don’t remember this from the other RESETS, but...but that’s great! Maybe you can help!” They seemed excited about something, and not all that dangerous so everyone settled back down. 

“Ok, kid. I’m gonna just say this outright; you’re freaking me out with this whole game came to life scenario. Anyyy chance at all you could, uh, fill my fam and I in on this?” Marie gestures first to the TV, then back to the couch of stunned friends. Surprisingly, Frisk nods, and the adults in the room note they seem to be grinning. 

“Yeah! So, to start off, you’re right. We WERE supposed to fight Flowey back there - or, at least he was gonna fight us…”

“NEVER TRUST A FLOWER.” Blake is quickly hushed.

“R-Right. Anyways, what looks like a game to you is a real world to me. I keep reliving through these RESETS, and I really want them to stop. I think, maybe, if you can help me get to the happy ending. I can’t do much on my end but be here, so it looks like you’re in control over there! Please? I have a friend I promised to try and stop this…” They trail off, and it’s the sad look that makes the group glance at each other. No words spoken, no questions asked. 

“We’re in, kid. The Anomaly and fam are on the case!”

Facing such a strange scenario...Marie, Angela, Data, and Blake are filled with…

DETERMINATION.


	2. Same Old Path

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all! I got to admit, this chapter is a bit rushed...but it’s mainly the usual gameplay of Undertale itself, and I didn’t want to bore anyone. I promise things are going to get interesting quick.  
> Thank you for reading so far. I hope those who do read are enjoying it, and please remember to comment. It means the world to me!
> 
> Thank you. 💜

“Goat mom! She’s a goat mom!!” Angela was cheering from behind, causing the others to laugh as Marie and Frisk followed the sweetest monster - her name was Toriel, and Frisk was insistent that she’s amazing - through the place called the ruins. If it was real, it would’ve been the type of place Marie and her brother would love to explore. Especially under the stars...actually, they had probably better bring a lamp. 

“Oh, oh! We get to do a puzzle! Hell yeah those are fun!” Data gets excited, and Blake pokes them repeatedly.  
“No swearing, there is a CHILD present!” He gestures to the screen, in which the group can hear Frisk laugh. The puzzle was, sadly, pretty easy to do. Much to Data’s dismay, no one got to do the map out puzzle with spikes - but Frisk got to hold Toriel’s hand so it was fine. 

Once it got to the part of exploring by themselves, the group had fun running around to see each nook and cranny. To meet each monster with a smile, and solve certain puzzles with little argument...mostly little. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“MAKE THE ROCK MOVE!” 

“Data no.”

“THEY’RE MESSING UP THE PUZZLE THOUGH!”

“Data they ARE the puzzle.”

“Lame. There needs to be one with dancing or something...oh! Colored squares! That would work great!”

Angela sighs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Around what Frisk told them should be halfway, Marie notices something in the corner of the screen. It looked like a little yellow spot, and she’s quick to turn around heading back.

“Ey, Anom, what’s the hold up?” Blake actually moves to sit on the group next to her, getting closer to the screen. 

“I...I saw something back there...compass sense is saying so.” Marie explains, and the others just agree with her, knowing what she meant. 

Needless to say, Flowey suddenly popping up on screen was not a welcome experience.  
“RUN BITCH RUN!” Angela and Data near scream, while Blake just scrambles back up onto the couch as though to physically put distance between himself and the flower. Marie is quick to get Frisk outta there, everyone panicking the whole while. They take refuge near a spider bake sale. 

The others laughing and Marie watching on in amusement, Frisk speaks up from their place beyond the screen.  
“Um, can someone fill me in on this compass sense? It sounded like you all understood what Anomaly meant when she said that.”  
The group looks to each other, but ultimately it is up to Marie to explain her...oddity.

“I’ve always had weird feelings. Not like deja vu, but the urge to do stuff. It’s kinda where I got my nickname the Anomaly, because I’m like a human glitch. I’ll suddenly know stuff about someone, or if something is there I need to find. It’s helpful when learning new stuff, but it can freak people out. Especially when I, well, try to explain. I’m not that good at it, explaining it I mean. It just...happens.” Marie sighs at the end, shaking her head. Thanks to this little ability of hers, and her different personality in general, most of her family steered clear of her. Still, she perks up and grins. 

“But not these three! These weirdos have always been there for me, like I’m here for them!” Laughing, Marie tries to grapple the others into a weird sitting hug motion. It doesn’t work, but it gets the good vibes back.  
“And that includes you, too, Frisk! You’re family now, ok? We got your back!” This is met with EXTREME amounts of agreement from the rest. 

“Yeah Frisk! Don’t worry about a thing!”

“Course little darling, we got you!”

“Welcome to the crew, newbie. We’ll get along great.”

The touching moment is ended by Angela finally taking a good look at the screen, and wincing a little.  
“Oh, dear...uh, Anom? This is your thing darling.” Marie looks, too, and has the happiest look. 

“It’s a bake sale?! By SPIDERS?! Oh that’s super, lemme get IN on that!” Blake stops her from buying much, insisting on saving gold since the ‘no killing’ rule stopped them from looting. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh, tell him he looks great! That’s honestly adorable.” Angela shakes Marie a little, now pointing at the ghost on screen.  
“Sure, tears aren’t the best material, but it’s the thought that counts. I can totally get him some better material.” Laughter from the happy going bunch, and they all soon move on to the front of the ruins. 

It’s once they get inside Marie feels it again, a pulling of sorts to go down the front stairs. Frisk is stopped by Toriel, but it does not kill the calling.  
“Alright y’all, I got an idea. Frisk, you gotta pretend you’re sleeping alright? Don’t actually fall asleep.” Marie instructs, before turning back to her audience, “We gotta get downstairs. It’s the way out.” 

“Ok, I’ll do my best!” Frisk responds, and soon Toriel is out of the little bedroom, assuming Frisk is asleep. Marie is quick to guide them out of the room and down the stairs, all holding their breath as though that would actually do anything. 

A collective sigh of relief when they get to the door, and Blake sits up straighter on the couch. He salutes the screen Attack on Titan style.  
“Glory to you, Goat Mom. We’ll see you once we achieve The Mission.” He says, and grins as Frisk’s laughter. 

“Don’t worry! We’ll see her again...I’m sure of it.” With that, they move on to the outside. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“THERE'S SOMEONE FOLLOWING US!” Angela points in between the trees, and a chill is held in the air between all. Everyone had seen the shadow, and Frisk wasn’t offering any explanations. The silence spurs Marie onward. 

“Ok, if they wanted to attack they would have by now right? We’re good, we’re gooooOOOOD!” Halfway through, her reassurances die into a scream laugh as they all reach a bridge. Finally, game logic has kicked in and an invisible barrier prevents them from moving on. The fam can only watch on as Frisk is approached by the shadow man from before. 

“Human, don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” 

“NOT LIKE THAT YOU DON’T.” A couch pillow goes flying in Angela’s direction. Data, the brilliant pitcher.  
“He’s trying to be nice, be supportive!” They claim, smacking the girl repeatedly with the pillow. All movement stops when a fart is heard. The shadow man, now revealed as a skeleton, was holding a whoopee cushion. 

Out in the hallway of the apartment complex, laughter can be heard. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh my gosh they’re both adorable.” Marie chuckles, shaking her head as Papyrus’s scarf billows in the ‘wind’. The group was silent, simply watching the two brothers discuss about capturing a human, “Frisk we should totally let them kidnap us. It’d make Papyrus’s day.”

“Maybe later Anomaly. All that would do is make us skip the puzzles.” Frisk giggles at the head lady’s suggestion, but - like a demon brought forth from the abyss - Data shoves their head right next to Marie’s. 

“PUZZLES. Yes. Let’s do those. Man after my own heart.” With that, the group moves onward. It was time to solve this Great Papyrus’s puzzles, with style!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cry laughter was back, to the point of most clutching their sides in slight pain. When the machine had decided on what was a straight line, and Papyrus spiraling away, no one could hold back the joy. It was a beautiful tragedy, for he had so hoped for a great puzzle — he wasn’t the only one. 

“Ow, ow ow ow my SIDES. Ok, ok that was beautiful. Honestly ten out of ten.” Data was clapping away, shaking their head, “Poor dude though. That’s gotta suck, all that time and it’s just a line.”

“True. Ahh alright, let’s get going. Snowdin, which is an awesome name to be honest, is our first stop. Then Waterfall, which according to Frisk we gotta BOLT when Undyne shows up. Hotland is where Mettaton is, which I’d pay good money to witness him and Blake do a fashion off. Finally...Throne room.” Angela reads out, holding a pad of paper. Back in the Ruins, Frisk had warned the group of upcoming battles and friends they would all meet. In the name of hurrying towards the best ending, Angela had written everything down so Marie could speed run it. 

They were running out of hours, and no one wanted to delay the freedom of the monsters anymore than needed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thus the night ticked on. Marie headed the virtual charge as battle after battle passed, the fam behind cheering for each soared monster. For each puzzle, an enthusiastic Data would take charge, especially when Mettaton pulled that quick move with the dungeon. Frisk said it’s the first time they ever got to FINISH that puzzle, even if it ended the same. 

Undyne’s fight had actually led to some rapid fire chanting of RUN. Repeatedly. There also might have been some swearing at Sans as they all passed him. Hopefully, he understood. Or was truly that asleep.

It had been a wild run. The lower labs, the Omega Flowey Fight - which all assumed would cause nightmares forever - went on a date with Papyrus, then setting up Undyne with Alphys. It truly was amazing!

Then they all reached the end, and the group of five went back down to four as credits rolled across the screen. Marie was certain a tear was rolling down her face. 

No one had anything to say. They did it...Happily Ever After had been achieved.  
“Well...Hey, we helped! That’s good! ...Right?” Angela offers quietly, and the rest nod along. 

“Yeah, it is. Wherever they all are...I’m sure they’ll love the Surface...huh?” The main screen was back up, and Marie’s look of surprise encouraged the others to look up. 

Underneath the title, Undertale, there now was a single word in red text. Underfell.

“Underfell…? Is that a sequel?” Marie shoots up, before looking at the others, “We should totally jump in! What if it’s like before, they might need our help! We got…” Her expression drops when she looks at the time. She was the only one off the next day, and while the others’ shifts were in the afternoon everyone needed to sleep.

“Eh, whatever. My boss is an ass, and I want to help. Count me in, Anom.” Blake had been moving to go to bed, but now sits directly next to Marie on the floor, “Let’s break more people out, deus ex machina style!” He’s followed by Angela and Data. With all four friends close, Marie actually does a fist pump.

“Alright! INTO THE BEYOND!!” She starts up the screen…

And the feeling of falling occurs to her. Falling, falling, falling through a darkened void.  
Until she hits a bed of beautiful, golden flowers.


	3. Party Counted, Stat Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party rejoins up, and begins to travel. Stats are discovered and two are learned. The party earns their name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thanks for dropping in 😉. 
> 
> So, listen, if you happen to like this fic...do me a solid and drop a comment. I have literally three reader inserts in this fandom currently, and those are doing way better than this one. I mean, I made one of those fics maybe two days ago, and it has more:  
> Hits  
> Kudos  
> Subscriptions  
> AND comments than this one that’s been out for more than a month. 
> 
> On one hand, glad to know I do good Reader Inserts! On the other...this is my first time writing a NONreader insert and I would deeply appreciate some love for it. Especially now. 
> 
> It doesn’t take long. Even if it’s just an emoji, it’d mean the WORLD to me. Thank you.

Blue and green eyes shoot open, and the girl herself sits up in the grass. Golden buttercups become smears under clutching hands, and she looks down to see...yeah, this is NOT her living room. 

Anomaly looks around the area, deja vu smacking her over the head repeatedly like a broken monkey with cymbals toy. She KNEW this place. She knew she knew this place, but from where?

“WHERE THE HELL AM I?!” Ah, yes. The screams of a startled Data. Perfect place to start. Brushing off scattered petals and getting up, Anomaly sprints towards her second in command. Data perks up from their previously frustrated expression when they see her.   
“Oh, cap! Good to see you, even if I have no clue where we are.” Anomaly pulls Data up, and together they glance around the place. It was a darkened cavern, the only light streaming in from a hole in the room. Although, glancing down a ways, light could also be seen flicking in the distance. No doubt leading deeper into the cave. A groan draws them away from the search for an exit, only to notice it wasn’t just the two of them here. 

Blake was holding his head, blinking like he just woke up from a deep sleep. The plunge had not been kind to him, scrapes on his hands were noticeable by the small smears they left on his face. Once Data and Anomaly helped him up, and checked his hands to be certain it wasn’t hospital level bad, the party of three went over to collect members four...and five. 

Four was Angela, who had remained sitting due to being slightly trapped. In her lap, a small child sat. With their striped shirt, it was obvious who had decided to join the fam on this trip. 

“Frisk! Wow it’s great to see you again so soon...any chance you know where we are?” Anomaly asks the kid, and Frisk nods back at her. Their eyes had lit up in recognition of her voice, so it was clear that the previous few hours of them going through the Underground had not been forgotten. 

“It seems like we’re back in the Underground, but...something feels really wrong. I don’t think this is MY Underground.” Frisk explains, and for a moment they look scared. Anomaly wasn’t having that, and so she decides on the best course of action — scooping Frisk up into her arms, and giving them a bear hug. 

“Don’t sweat it, kiddo. We’re here to fix this. Let’s just do the usual stuff, and see if anything’s changed.” With everyone agreeing to this plan, they set off deeper into the tunnels. Plunging into the darkness of the unknown Underground, and off to see what may have changed this world they have come to love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Um, Anomaly? You really can put me down now…” Frisk says this, but they giggle as they do. For the past few hours as the group traversed through the darkened ruins, Anomaly has been having Frisk ride piggyback. She’s got a decent grip, and hasn’t slowed down a bit from leading the group. 

“Not a chance kid. It’s been way past the point where we should’ve run into Toriel, or the flower fuu...fudger. This place is definitely going off script which means we will, too.” Anomaly kept glancing around. This...this was weird. By all means someone should have been able to spot a big goat lady, especially with the way everything was dark. 

Like, it was DARK. No torches, no glowing flowers to show the way — which was a major change from before. The humans stuck together, everyone having a hand on another person in some way. This adventure had seemed fun at the beginning, but now it only served as a worrying descent.   
“...Ok, I’m going ahead. I’ll scout out whatever is going down up there, and come straight back.” Angela breaks away from Data and Blake, the three of them having trailed behind Anom and Frisk. She straightens up, and then proceeds to sprint down into the shadows. 

“...Damn. Ok girl.” Blake mutters out, before sitting down in the dirt, “Guess we chill here and wait for her to come back right? She’ll be back in minutes, tops.” Agreeing, the others sit down as well. Silence overtakes the group, and as they wait that feeling of wrongness stays true. 

It’s the groan of dissatisfaction that comes from Data that makes the others jump slightly, unprepared.   
“Ok, let’s test something out. I mean, we’re in a game technically right? So...we gotta have something cool going on.” They mention, before fist bumping against their own chest. 

“Data? What are you doing?” Frisk moves away from Anom to see what Data’s trying, and gets a grin for their efforts.   
“I saw it in a movie once! That new Jumanji movie, when the people got sucked in, they could see their strengths and weaknesses. It makes sense that we should do those too.” Data explains, before basically smacking random body parts to try and make something happen. 

“I...I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, I just really don’t know if that could —“ Blake starts off, before being cut off by Anom tapping him on his head. She gets a look, before a huge screen like box pops up in front of the man earning a cheer from the others.   
“Oh shoot never mind.”

The box was clearly from a video game, which proved Data’s theory correct surprisingly. It listed out everything there was to know about Blake, and was quickly scanned over by the gang. 

**Blake Castee**

**LV 2**

**HP 24**

**AT 12**

**DF 10**

***Has a boyfriend  
*Member of the Renegades**

**Q U I T?**

A low whistle from Data. “Dang, Blake. Don’t you have to kill to get above LoVe one?” They ask, pointing at the accusing number. Blake shakes his head with a smile.

“Nah, not really. I think it’s from when I was a kid — had to put my dog down. Since I was in the room, maybe that did it?” His question made sense, but he practically has stars in his eyes when he turns to look at Anom. “Yo, Anom! You do it too! You work at that exotic store, you see bugs and mice die all the time.”

With a sigh, Anomaly nods and taps her own head. Everyone is watching with eager anticipation of her results, but the actual numbers are a shocker of an event. 

**Marie “The Anomaly” Wick**

**LV 17**

**HP 84**

**AT 42**

**DF 14**

***Has OVERWRITE ability  
*Has SENSE ability  
*Leader of the Renegades**

**Q U I T?**

…  
The horrified laughter of the four echoes down the hall, followed by a frantic voice denying everything and three others cheering the first one on. It’s distracting as anything, so distracting that no one of the Renegades hears the frantic footsteps heading in their direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup! Our group now holds the proud party title of the Renegades!
> 
> I always find the whole LV and EXP System weird 🤔 how about y’all?


	4. Battle of Queens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the Anomaly VS Toriel fight!  
> And then some arts and crafts.

“This is a mistake. This is a _mistake_! I-I’m not that violent! I love animals and flowers and all that Jazz! I DO **YOGA**!” Anomaly screams, gesturing wildly towards the floating stats of her SOUL. That seventeen level of violence was seriously throwing her. Data was on the floor laughing, crying so hard they honestly sounded like they were dying. Blake was just pointing at Anom with a huge smile on his face. He takes it upon himself to disprove her. 

“I would like to point out that one; those animals you like are snakes, spiders, and other deathly creatures most sprint from. Two; those flowers you also speak of are different kinds of dangerous flowers that could kill people. You used to say they were interesting and exotic remember? THIRD! That yoga class was forced upon you! BY ANGELA!” The accusation has everyone pausing. Anomaly puts a hand against her chin, and ponders for a moment. She felt like they were forgetting something…

“Oh, shit. ANGELA!” The group is on their feet, and sprinting in the direction their lost friend had gone. She had insisted it would only be a little while before she came back, and with how fast she could run it should not have taken this long.   
Heading up the group, Anomaly runs into the darkness to lead the charge. With Frisk between Blake and Data, Anom knew they could keep them safe if she had to rush into a fight. 

She never sees Angela when they crash into each other.

Both go down hard, but it’s Angela who gets back up quicker. She’s panicked, eyes wide and...soot on her clothes.   
“We have to go. We have to go now! That’s not Toriel — well she’s not our Toriel!” Angela is shaking, clinging to Anomaly **hard**. The two friends embrace, then Anomaly pushes Angela behind her. 

“Alright, I’ll deal with this. I’ve done this fight a good couple of times. It...it can’t be that much of a difference, right?” Starting off confident, Anomaly’s resolve wavers with the look she’s shot by the ash covered designer. This must’ve been worse than previously thought. 

Doesn’t matter. Time to get to work. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The walk to the Ruins is a somber march. The previous areas have all changed, and not for the best. The Renegades noticed upon their march towards the Queen, that piles of dust lingered around each corner. The whole of this place seemed so much worse. Even that cute spider bakery that Anomaly had loved the first time around had been abandoned, tiny little silver piles all around the cobwebs. 

To anyone else, it may have looked like a simple case of a seriously needed spring cleaning. The group knew better though. They listened close in the original timeline, read each dialogue and plot point carefully. These dust piles used to be monsters, slaughtered by what...no one could guess.   
Data has Frisk in a bear hug, one hand over their eyes as they navigated the scenes. They knew this would be disturbing for the child, after all the only time they would have ever seen this much dust would be in the darkest timelines. 

Once the Renegades reach that small house in the Ruins, Data finally uncovers Frisk’s eyes. No one makes any moves towards the home, though. It felt so wrong...even the air seemed thick with the tension bleeding out from the place. 

“Ok...ok. Here’s what we’ll do. Frisk, Angela, I need you two out here. With all due respect...you two need to be far away from the fight. Worst come to worst haul ass out of here, plain and simple. Blake, I need you on defensive. You know how to throw. I’m going offensive, right to the head. Data...get ready to tackle.” Plans made and roles assigned, the group spits. As Frisk and Angela move away from the main battleground, Blake stands behind Anomaly and Data hides off towards the side in the bushes. 

With a deep breath, Anomaly walks up to the door, and **pounds** on it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The appearance of the Queen is a horrid one. Anomaly might have had an offensive stance before, but this was...changing her mind on this. Toriel looked rougher than before, a dark dress stained in ash and ripped at the hems compared to a neat purple, clean dress Frisk spoke of. Her eyes alight with hellfire, honest to stars fangs...this was not the Queen they knew.   
This version had fallen. 

Still, the leader stood her ground and looked defiant at the evil goat mom. She COULD NOT lose faith now!   
“Queen Toriel, I am here to challenge you!” Anomaly decides to get super into the role, and point like this is an anime showdown, “You versus me. I win, us Renegades get to freely move on to the rest of the Underground unstopped. You win...I surrender my SOUL to free all monsterkind.” It was a hasty bargain, but let it not be said that this was a woman who does anything half assed. Except for school essays. Because those were terrible. 

The Queen looks stunned for a moment, and it’s not that surprising she’s thrown. This had to be the strangest thing by far to happen here in the Ruins — a random human shows up and just outright challenges her to a fight? How...how…  
How _intriguing_.

Toriel takes a moment to recover, and between her looking at Anom and looking away, Anomaly shoots the most confident smile at the others. Frisk is pretty sure they see everyone else sweatdrop. 

“V-Very well, human...I suppose I will humor your request. If only to give you peace, once you **die**.” Toriel’s hands catch on fire, and Anomaly literally could not look more excited right now. She’s going into this fight with nothing, no weapons or knowledge of how this will go...but she’s gonna do her best and PRAY.

Thankfully, with Data and Blake back in high school, the three of them had learned the ancient teenage art of parkour, so ducking and weaving between wave after wave of heat became something to be confident of. Anomaly never fought back, just kept her pace and would outmaneuver each flaming attack that came her way.   
She would like to think it was with the help of whoever was blasting Spear of Justice from their phone right now. Honestly that song is great. 

It takes a decent while before Toriel seems to slow down, and with that Anomaly sees her opening. She tenses, and when those fiery hands go down she breaks into a sprint directly at the fallen queen. 

“DATA! ENGAGE!” Both comrades rush the tired monster, and she barely has a chance to realize what is happening when they have her tackled to the ground. A grinning Anomaly starts to laugh. 

“Apologies, your highness! It seems we won this round.” Not wanting to cause any bad blood between them unnecessarily, Anomaly helps Toriel back up as Data moves away from the two. Blake, Angela, and Frisk come back over now that the fight has seemingly ended. 

“I...don’t understand...you didn’t…?” Toriel seems to be in shock, and it worries everyone. Normally, goat mom would probably be proud for them to be the nonviolent kind of humans.   
Guess they just got a taste of the culture shock outside the Ruins awaiting them. Not wanting to cause anymore confusion, Anomaly speaks up. 

“Ma’am, we don’t want to seriously maim or kill anyone. Just let us pass through, and I can assure you we will be breaking the barrier once and for all.” Anomaly busts out her customer service voice, a act she has had practice in for placating others for...longer than she’d like to admit. Angela taps Anom on the shoulder, whispers in her ear, and then backs off to let Anomaly add onto the previous statement. 

“Actually...could my friend here borrow some stuff, too please? We need to do something first.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Aaaaaaand done! Ok Frisk, honey here’s your mask too! Since you wanted one so bad…” Angela finishes up the mask in question to hand over to the kid. Frisk, shooting her a thumbs up, proceeds to immediately put it on. 

Behind Frisk, was three masked figures now all proudly wearing the new disguises made for them by Angela. Each one based off of a bug, it not only covered their entire faces but was made to replicate armor. 

Data had the lovely orchid mantis. They liked the lighter pink and white tones it had, plus Angela had insisted that the mantis was the way to go for the dear friend.   
Blake has a mask resembling a tarantula hawk, which he was informed by Anomaly was a totally cool choice and would utterly match him. He had serious doubts, but went with it to make her feel good about picking it out for him.   
Angela has chosen the Queen Alexandra Birdwing butterfly to mimic her mask. It was bright and colorful, bringing all attention to her face and not to anything else, an easy distraction on the field. 

Finally, came Frisk and Anomaly. The Renegades had promised Frisk they didn’t have to wear a mask at all, but they wanted it. They wanted to match their new friends, even if this world’s Sans would recognize them anyways. That was the whole point of the mask, to not give a person the credit of an idea…  
Anomaly had also promised to watch V for Vendetta with Frisk later, it’s her favorite movie apparently. 

For the two of them, though, they had chosen similar masks. Both masks resembled types of spiders from the surface, crafted remarkably well for the slim supplies the fashionista had access to. Where Frisk was modeled to look like a tarantula, Anomaly had gone with the only choice she felt would fit…

Black widow. 

Thus, masks made and prepared to face the unknown of this more violent Underground, the five walk away from the Ruins into a winter wonderland. Masks tied tight to their faces, and hand in each hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember to comment! Thanks!


	5. Snowdin of Underfell

The chill in the air was welcomed wholeheartedly by the Renegades. Each crunch of snow was treated as a game, with Angela and Frisk desperately trying to outdo each other in who could get the most satisfying stomp of snow. Still, the group was careful to watch where everyone was stepping. Especially after some quick talking had been done.   
It had been heavily agreed upon that what the group was currently experiencing had to be an Alternate Universe — as Blake had phrased it at the group meeting, “Typical Undertale but a little to the left.”

Clearly, this universe was not as kind to the monsters as the usual one had been. Thanks to this, new precautions had to be taken such as watching out for traps that could honestly hurt someone, and being prepared to get into a fight at a moment's notice.   
Which leads up to the current moment, of all these idiots hiding behind a huge snow drift spying on a sleeping Sans. He had...clearly seen better days, judging by the small cracks everyone could spot even at the distance. 

“We got to help him...I mean come on, he’s gotta be in pain!” The harsh whisper comes from Anomaly, who then dramatically points over to the skeleton in question, “We’ll have to move quick too — Alpha timeline Papyrus knocked us out like three times so we know this world’s Papyrus is...probably really dangerous. Like hella dangerous.” 

“Ok, but what? We should keep our distance for now. Anom, be for real about what we would do.” Blake had a point to prove, and he was right. There’s no proof anything could be done, even so it was a bitter taste for the Renegades to just leave. 

“Well, let’s look at our stats! Maybe something there can help?” Data suggests, smiling. So far, only Anomaly and Blake’s stats had been revealed. With the suggestion of Anomaly having some “Overwrite” ability and “Sense” ability, it was an apparent conversation point for who else had abilities. 

“Here! I’ll go first.” Tapping their head, the kind soul smiles as their stats are revealed in a smaller box than the others. Likely from everyone hiding from their sins in the snow pile. 

**Data Hansen**

**LV 3**

**HP 28**

**AT 14**

**DF 10**

***Nonbinary, uses they/them pronouns  
*Has HACKER ability  
*Member of the Renegades**

**Q U I T?**

“Hacker ability…? That sounds pretty serious…” Data looks it over a bit more, but other than that nothing out of the ordinary shows up. They already knew where their allegiance lies, so obviously a member of the Renegades, and of course they knew how they identified. Either way, they look to Angela with a comforting smile.   
“Alright darlin’, your turn!”

Angela nods, and — with some hesitance — does the same as Data had. When the box shows up, though, the fashionista refuses to look at it. Almost...shameful of the numbers in the box. 

**Angela Pates**

**LV 10**

**HP 56**

**AT 26**

**DF 20 [ERROR: UNUSUALLY HIGH]**

***Has SHIELD ability  
*Has HEALER’S AURA buff  
*Member of the Renegades**

**Q U I T?**

The group takes a moment of silence...before a pitiful whine leaves Blake. 

“You’ve got to be kidding, I’m the squish?! How’d I get the lowest LV here — don’t answer that you lil shit.” He shoots a glare at Data, who is smirking wide. Anomaly just throws an arm around Angela in a comforting motion. 

“If it makes you feel any better...I’m a LV 17 for some reason.” The calm statement does, indeed, make Angela not only feel better but snort out a laugh. 

“Anom how the hell — girl I know you’ve got a lotta badass in there but you also got a lot of dumbass too.” The laughed out statement has everyone chuckling, in which Frisk decides to jump in with a small giggle. 

“Big of heart, dumb of ass.” This is met with startled and clearly dramatic gasps. Alongside the repeated “Child, no!” and “Who taught you that?” statements that quickly brought back the group's good mood.   
That mood dies the minute they all get back to the task at hand. Getting past this world’s Sans would prove a worthy task. He would have to be that much more cunning than his blue jacket counterpart...but alas. 

Even living in a kill or be killed world cannot stop the force of nature titled, The Anomaly. 

“Ok everybody...I have a _plan_...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_This was not a plan_ , Blake had been thinking for the past five minutes, _this was not even half of a plan. It’s a birth of a plan, this plan isn’t even a week old, what the FUCK was A trying to do?!_

Anomaly had steadily been creeping towards Sans with Angela by her side, while he and Data stood guard near Frisk. As the one dubbed The Resetor, Frisk had to survive no matter what in any scenario. They can turn the clock back, and therefore had top priority if shit went down.   
Not to mention, they’re literally twelve. Who’s idea was it to send a kid down here again?!

All Blake could do, though, was stay hidden and watch. Watch as his idiot friends put in place a plan so utterly thin he was pretty sure one could see through it even if the air was full of smoke.   
He can barely restrain himself from sighing when, naturally, things go wrong. 

Similar to the plan to take down the previous Queen, the idea had been for Anomaly to actually grab Sans and hold on for dear life. Keep him distracted as Angela does her own best to heal him. The general consensus was that her ability, Healer’s Aura, might help him just by being nearby.   
The only issue was how on Earth to keep him there, which is why Anomaly has decided to basically...jump him. Literally. 

Which naturally led to Anomaly getting thrown across the grounds via glowing magic. Sans’s eye brightly burning with red magic, and thus the battle between the powerful older brother and the Anomaly began. 

This was going to be a hot mess. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red was a hell of a fighter, and Anomaly was thankful for the fact that he was starting to slow down now. She’s been ducking and dodging for a good few minutes, and — while his magic was definitely up there in strength — the fact that his moves were starting to lag behind her own movements was a sign of ensuring victory. Mentally, Anom does a thought check to figure out the time. 

_We likely have only a little while longer before Fell Papyrus shows up. This Sans...Red, he’s good...but not quick enough!_ Springing forward, Anom grabs Red by the legs and pulls him down. She’s quick to get back up and does her best to put him in a hold. 

“Resistance is futile! STOP STRUGGLING! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE WE ARE BORG!” Anomaly is outright shouting, and doing her best to avoid flinching at how Red was trying to **bite** her now. It doesn’t escape her that the poor guy is shaking in her hold, though, and she forces the strong act to keep going in the face of this. 

“L-Lemme go! LEMME GO!!” Red was freaking out, and a glance at her mask made his eyelights die out quick to resemble a more realistic skull. It takes a moment for her to connect why, but it’s funny how much sense it makes.   
Any Sans would be ready for Frisk, but not any other humans. Her appearance was a hell of a trip...and it was about to get so much worse. 

“Birdwing take a gamble!” Anomaly tells Angela, who...starts waving her hands around frantically. 

“IDONTKNOWWHATIMDOING UM UM CAST HEALER AURA?!” Her panicking must trigger something, because a large green light surrounds the entire area. While there’s no sign of it being physically there, Anomaly could swear it feels...fluffy. Happy vibes, maybe, or the literal heart warming feeling that most talk about.   
It feels wonderful, like soaking in a warm bath or being out on a summer night with the fam. Smoky campfire scent in the air, twisted into a soothing balm for the soul.

Red’s shaking stops. It’s like someone hit the pause button on him, he just freezes and watches Angela with wide eyesockets. It makes Anomaly smirk, just a bit. 

“Like I said, sugar skull, resistance is futile.” Without further ado, because Anomaly tends to be overly familiar and was probably once again functioning on half a brain….drops a small kiss on the brow of the skeleton in her arms. His face goes bright red — surprisingly, since he is a skeleton — and leaves everyone laughing. 

It’s all happy vibes. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So...what I’m hearing is ya are actually trying to break the barrier?” Red had settled down to talk to the group after...everything. Plus, Angela still had her Healer’s Aura going and it felt great for all. The cold was chased away, any pain in their limbs fading, and Anomaly could see that even the old markings in Red’s bones were easing up. Knowing he can’t see her smile, though, she nods. 

“Yep. Our main goal is to go bust that barrier open like a bad walnut. Secondary goal...well, I guess technically happily ever after is part of the first goal, huh?” Data fills in, chuckling a bit at the end and shrugging. Other murmurs of agreement come from Blake, Angela, and Frisk. Speaking of Frisk, Red looks at them with a confused expression. 

“Kid, why the hell are ya wearin’ a mask? Hell...why are ANY of you wearing them? That shit’s not gonna help down here...doesn’t look like armor…” Red pokes a bit at the nearest mask — Anomaly’s — Before she carefully pushes his hand away, shaking her head. 

“For us, it is the way —“ Anomaly stifles a snort when the others utter the same phrase, “— because we are not doing this for any reward or praise. We don’t need anyone to know our names or faces. We’re just...hopping into dimensions and trying to help the best we can.” Maybe it isn’t the most elegant way of phrasing it, but it was the only way to say it. 

“...Yer a bunch of idiots...even if this is the first time…” Red shoots a look down the path, towards the Ruins, before shaking his head and pulling his hood up.   
“You crazies won’t get any trouble from me, but best watch yourselves around the other monsters. It’s kill or be killed down here, and that’s not changing anytime soon.”

Silence. Utter silence. Before, low and deep, a chuckle comes from the Black Widow mask. It’s that of a supervillain’s laugh, more fitting for a horror movie than now. It sends shivers down Red’s spine, but under every mask there is now a matching grin to their leader’s own. 

“ _We’ll see, Red. We’ll see._ ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snowdin is...silent. Data swears they could throw a rock at a window and it would shatter the air instead, as though they’re all in a fishbowl simulation and there’s no sound to exist. It made them clutch Frisk’s legs tighter, the child riding piggyback similar to how they did in the Ruins.   
Anomaly was once again leading up the charge, but this time Angela was behind her while Blake kept pace with Data. The shift in positions would compensate for the battle to come. 

Fell Papyrus would be coming up soon. Just by the river, if that logic still applied here. Data could see monsters peeking out at them from behind coverings and other hidden spots in between buildings, and it made them want to stick their tongue out or something.   
All these monsters, scared of a battle between a human and an apparent royal guardsman — makes sense, it would suit him so well — but Data could see the logic there, too. Anomaly had massive LV, even if it was only earned through literal accidents and Angela had some decent LV too, so with the group falling in line it must have made Anom look like some badass human leader. 

Data has a small moment of clarity about how, maybe a half hour ago, Anomaly’s plan to heal Red was literally just tackling him. These monsters had no idea what she was all really about, and that’s fine.   
The group stops as the fog gets thick, and Data finds themself squinting to try and see what was going on…

“ **HUMANS!** PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR A TRUE FIGHT!”

Here they go...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t forget to comment! Support is deeply appreciated and celebrated by myself via running around cheering when it is received. 💜


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